Talk: Hufflepuff Common Room

The entrance to the common room is concealed in a stack of large barrels in a nook on the right hand side of the kitchen corridor, which is one floor below ground level (this is also known as Hufflepuff Basement).

Tap the barrel two from the bottom, middle of the second row, in the rhythm of ‘Helga Hufflepuff’, and the lid will swing open. We are the only house at Hogwarts that also has a repelling device for would-be intruders. If the wrong lid is tapped, or if the rhythm of the tapping is wrong, the illegal entrant is doused in vinegar. You will hear other houses boast of their security arrangements, but it so happens that in more than a thousand years, the Hufflepuff common room and dormitories have never been seen by outsiders. Like badgers, we know exactly how to lie low – and how to defend ourselves. Once you’ve opened the barrel, crawl inside and along the passageway behind it, and you will emerge into the cosiest common room of them all. It is round and earthy and low-ceilinged; it always feels sunny, and its circular windows have a view of rippling grass and dandelions.

There is a lot of burnished copper about the place, and many plants, which either hang from the ceiling or sit on the windowsills. The Herbology Professor brings the most interesting specimens (some of which dance and talk) to decorate our room – one reason why Hufflepuffs are often very good at Herbology. Our overstuffed sofas and chairs are upholstered in yellow and black, and our dormitories are reached through round doors in the walls of the common room. Copper lamps cast a warm light over our four-posters, all of which are covered in patchwork quilts, and copper bed warmers hang on the walls, should you have cold feet.

The hufflepuff swaggers in, mug of hot coffee in hand. He's a practical guy, and he figures that he'd need the energy for his run later. The prefect badge glitters dully from the robe he's wearing currently. "Should I deduct points?" He says loudly, hopefully enough to wake his sister. While deadpan, it's a joke. Isaac wouldn't do that to his sister.

Isaac nears the couch enough that he can rest his hand on the edge and lean in a little, looking down at his sister. He raises both eyebrows. "What makes you think I wouldn't?" A beat later, he moves one of his hands to try and ruffle her hair. "Where'd you grab my robe from? I thought I hid those well enough this time."

"Every day I doubt more and more." Isaac grips the edge of the couch and hops over, landing neatly but hardly next to Haneul. The prefect sticks a hand into his robes and moments later, pulls out some chocolate- Hershey's kisses. "I'm gonna eat some but, since you've been misbehaving, I don't think I'll be sharing."

Elias and Quinn

He had his suitcase by his side, and he walked into the common room, and just glanced around. Why was there virtually nobody in here? Were they all in the kitchen? He sort of wants to go to the kitchen now...